2015 Elk hunt

[jjenness]

I do realize that i will be putting in 20+miles to get to a decent area to find some good elk.

Akrem44, good to see you are ambitious about your elk hunt, you will need it. Let me just give you a little advice about distance, and packing an elk out on your back. I live in elk country and hunt pretty much exclusively off my back every year, and I have some ground rules that I have set for myself when it comes to deciding whether or not to shoot. First, if I don't have horses lined up, or am in an area that horses can't access due to terrain, then I don't shoot if I am more than 3 miles in. If I am further than 3 miles I usually have animals lined up, or at least one or two friends so that I am able to get the meat out.

Let's just say for numbers sake that you hike in 5 miles with your camp on your back and are successful at shooting an elk, and you are solo with no plan for someone to help pack out. You will have at least 4 trips just to pack out your elk, and then one more trip to pick up your camp. That is 50 miles with those round trips. Add in ANY amount of elevation change throughout your hike and the task becomes nearly impossible to do by yourself. I don't care if you are part of Seal Team 6, this type of a pack out will take time, guts, will power. and an unbelievable amount of energy. Add in the fact that you will more than likely have several days already spent in the back country, with double digits hiked already just finding your quarry, and the amount of energy that you have already expended makes this a formidable task.

And when it comes to the amount of time it is going to take to get everything out, TIME is not on your side. If you are hunting Sept. or early Oct., chances are the weather is going to be fairly warm unless you are lucky enough to have a cold front move in during the time you are hunting, and oh yeah that weather is going to make it just that much harder to pack out. Even if it is "cool" out during your hunt, say around 50 degrees, your meat probably won't last as long as you think it will.

Good luck, enjoy, hope to see some pics this fall!

 

[WapitiBob]

If I need to hike in 5 miles, I'm in the wrong spot. If I hike more than 5 miles in a day of hunting, I'm in the wrong spot.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Figure on at least 4 trips if you're by yourself and that's boning everything out. If you're talking about going in very many miles by yourself on a backpack hunt and think you can get all that meat out in a typical bow season, you are fooling yourself and need to rethink that alone. You can't just plan a trip praying that the weather is cold like you mentioned, as it's not uncommon for it to be in the 60s or even 70s during the day even at elevation. We actually had some all the way up into the low 90s at 6500 this past season the last half of September. Coincidentally, the fellow I helped pack that 330" bull out 2 miles is only 28, is a cut above most as far as being in shape, and was in the same profession that you are with the BLM until two years ago when he got smart and used his engineering degree to get a well paying field job with a big oil company in Wyoming.

We had extremely warm/dry conditions elk hunting last season in Wyoming. It was in the upper 60's and into the 70's. I got a bull and 2 of us worked fast and hard to get the meat out and back to camp. Followed by a truck trip to a processor and a locker. It took us all day and into the night, but I didn't lose any meat. Never count on Mother Nature to cooperate. You nailed it TG.

 

[Farmer]

Three cheers to jjenness for accurately stating the distance/weather factor to be the sole consideration when choosing a hunt site. Case in point: Last year I was 3-miles back, solo. The elk were 3.5 miles back and 900' higher. Weather was mid 60's day, mid 40's at night. Getting an elk was a slam-dunk, getting the meat out was a no-go. I did the mileage math, added in the weather factor, broke camp and went elsewhere.

 

[Farmer]

Your advice is spot on. Well put jjenness.

 

[Elkoholic307]

So looking for the best option for a 2015 otc diy elk hunt. I understand putting in days and hours of hiking and calling are on hand just trying to find the best percentage for the areas. I do understand CO has the biggest elk herd. Just trying to see everyones thoughts on where they think the best place to start would be. Bow hunting only

How about WY Area 47? Eastmans' rate it as good and there are leftover tags available every single year.